Hood hinge



Feb. 22, 1955 R. MARPLE 2,702,400

HOOD HINGE Filed April 6, 1951 2 Shets-Sheet 1 E INVENTOR.

R. MARPLE HOOD HINGE Feb. 22, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet? Filed April 6, 1951 3 3 m/ r 7 5. 7 M

United States Patent O H001) HINGE Rollo Mai-pie, Jackson, Mich., assignor to Hancock Manufacturing Company, Jackseu, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application April 6, 1951, Serial No. 219,631

Claims. (Cl. 16-163) This invention relates to closure hinges and more particularly to a hinge construction especially adapted for the engine hoods of automotive vehicles and for similar applications.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an automotive hood hinge which combines a pivoting hinge action with a translatory movement which will enable the hood to be elevated away from the vehicle body as it is swung into open position. More particularly, it is an object to provide a construction for enabling such a combined rotary and translatory motion to take place which is extremely simple and made of relatively few parts which may be cheaply fabricated.

It is another object to provide an improved hood hinge of the above character which includes a rigid link pivotally connecting the hood and the vehicle body, and a continuous looped chain, cable or strap which is so secured to the hood and the body as to cooperate with the link in imparting a combined rotational and translatory movement to the hood as it is raised.

It is also an object to provide an improved hood hinge having the above characteristics, and which is provided with an over-center arrangement, whereby partial movement of the hood hinge in an opening direction will serve to position the over-center device to assist further opening and to hold the closure member in its open position.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the improved hood hinge of this invention, with the parts shown both in their closed and open positions;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the hinge showing the lateral relation of the parts; and

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the hinge showing the contour of the hinge brackets.

The hinge is shown in the illustrated embodiment as applied to the hood and body structure of automotive vehicles, but it will be understood that the principles of the invention are equally applicable to other types of hinges where it is desired to impart a combined rotational and translatory movement to the closure member.

The hinge comprises in general a body bracket generally indicated at 11 and a hood bracket 12 which are respectively secured to a body portion of the vehicle and to a portion of the hood. In the illustration, the dotdash line 13 represents the outline of a vehicle fender or other body part which is directly adjacent the hood, represented by the dot-dash line 14. Brackets 11 and 12 are connected by a rigid link 15 which is pivotally connected to both brackets, and also by a strap 16 or similar flexible member which is looped around circular guides 17 and 18, these guides being in the form of disks secured respectively to brackets 11 and 12.

The bracket 11 is of generally rectangular shape and is secured to the body 13 of the vehicle by means of fasteners 19. The disk 17 is fixedly secured to the central portion of bracket 11 by means of a plurality of fasteners 21 so that the disk is incapable of rotational or other movement with respect to the bracket. Link 15 is pivotally secured to bracket 11 by pivot pin 22 which passes through the center of disk 17, and the opposite end of the link is pivotally secured to bracket 12 by means of pivot pin 23. As is best seen in Fig. 2, pin 23 is secured to the center of disk 18, the latter being preferably "ice formed as an outwardly pressed extension of the flat intermediate portion 24 of bracket 12 and of somewhat smaller diameter than disk 17 for reasons to be described. Strap 16 may comprise a belt, chain or cable which is looped around disks 17 and 18, the ends of the strap being secured together by means of clamps 25 in the illustrated embodiment.

The portions of the strap which overlie the disks 17 and 18 are secured thereto by such means as fasteners 26 and 27 respectively, and the portions of the strap extending between said disks are in substantially taut condition. In particular, the circumferential positioning of fasteners 26 and 27 is such that when the hood is raised and lowered the strap 16 will freely wrap and unwrap itself around disks 17 and 18, being guided laterally by side flanges 28 and 29 provided respectively on these disks, there being a pair of flanges 28 on opposite edges of disk 17 and a single flange 29 on the outer edge of disk 16. Thus, as seen in Fig. 1, when the hinge is in closed position, as shown by the solid lines, a substantial area of the strap will overlie disk 17 above its fastener 26, whereas the position of fastener 27 will be adjacent the upper tangent point of strap 16 on disk 18. When the hood is swung upwardly, the strap will unwrap itself from the upper portion of disk 17 and wrap itself around the lower portion, the strap in its raised position being tangent to disk 17 substantially at fastener 26. Simultaneously with this action, the strap 16 will wrap itself around disk 18 at the upper portion thereof and unwrap itself at the lower portion, so that pin 27 will occupy an intermediate position in the wrapped portion of the strap on disk 18.

Means are provided for limiting the upward movement of the hinge when the hood is lifted. For this purpose, the end of link 15 which is pivoted to bracket 11 has an extension 31 which is engageable with a stop 32 extendin g transversely from disk 17 at the lower portion thereof. In particular, the circumferential position of stop 32 is such that when the hood is raised, the pivotal movement of link 15 will cause engagement of extension 31 with the stop when the hood has reached an elevated and angularly tilted position such as is shown by the dot-dash line 33. The body bracket 11'is further provided with a downwardly extending portion 34 which has a transverse fiange 35 and a downwardly extending ear 36. This extension serves as securing means for one end 37 of a coil spring 38, the other end 39 of which is secured to lateral extension 41 of the hood bracket 12. Spring 38 extends diagonally upwardly from the body and is so constructed as to exert a constant tension between its attaching points. As will be seen from an examination of Fig. 1, the line of force of this tension passes to the left of hood pivot pin 23 when the hood is in its lowered position, so that the spring will tend to hold the hood in such position. However, when the hood is in its raised position, as shown by the dot-dash lines, the line of force exerted by spring 38 will pass substantially to the right of pivot pin 23, thereby providing an additional lifting force tending to further rotate the hood upwardly (clockwise) about the pivot axis. Bracket 12 has an inclined intermediate portion 42 between portions 24 and 41 which preferably serves as an attaching surface, and the bracket may have an additional attaching surface 43 extending laterally from the lower edge of portion 24.

The cooperation of the various elements which comprise the hinge may perhaps best be illustrated by a description of their relative movements during a complete opening and closing of the hood. Starting from an initial condition in which the hood is closed, the parts will be in their solid-line position as shown in Fig. 1. When in this position, as stated previously, the spring 38 will exert a closing force upon the hood because of its displacement to the left of pin 23, and extension 31 of link 15 will be circumferentially spaced from stop 32. Upon lifting of the front end of the hood, a clockwise rotation will be imparted to the hood bracket 12, the disk 18 of this bracket likewise turning with the bracket. Due to the attachment of strap 16 to disk 18, the disk will tend to roll along the strap, the rigidity of link 15 maintaining constant the distance between disk 18 and disk 17. The result will be an arcuate path of travel of disk 18,

as shown by the dot-dash line 44, the center of this are being pin 22. At the same time, the tension created in the strap 16 tending to move it in a clockwise direction will be resisted by its attachment to disk 17, and the strap will therefore roll around this disk as shown in Fig. 1. Due to the fact that the diameter of disk 18 is somewhat smaller than that of disk 17, it must rotate a greater amount for a given distance of roll along the strap. The bracket 12 will therefore not remain in parallel relation with bracket 11 but will rotate clockwise relatively thereto during its arcuate movement.

It will therefore be observed that a combined rotational and translatory motion of the hood will take place, thereby lifting the hood away from the body as well as rotating it to allow a wide access opening toward the front of the vehicle. This action will continue until the extension 31 abuts the stop 32, at which time further upward movement of the hood will be prevented. This will be obvious, since any further rotation of bracket 12 with respect to the link 15 will result in a tension force being applied on the upper side 45 of the strap, thereby tending to force the extension 31 and the stop 32 into closer abutting relation. It will also be noted that during the lifting movement of the hood the spring 38 will be moved into its dot-dash position, as shown in Fig. 1, the ends 37 and 39 freely pivoting on their respective supporting lugs. At an intermediate point in the lifting movement, the centerline of the spring will cross the axis of pin 23, after which a clockwise movement force will be applied to the bracket 12 by the spring, tending to further lift the hood. Depending upon the strength of spring 38, therefore, it may be possible to so design the hinge as to permit self-lifting of the hood after it has been partially lifted. In the fully raised position, the residual tension in spring 38 will urge bracket 12 clockwise, thus holding extension 31 against stop 32, as previously described.

When it is desired to lower the hood, the front of the hood is pulled downwardly, imparting a counterclockwise rotational force upon the hood bracket 12. This force will be counteracted by spring 38, but the leverage afforded by the length of the hood will overcome this spring force. The disk 18 will therefore be rolled along strap 16 toward its original position, and since the link 15 still maintains the constant distance between disk 18 and pin 22, the disk 18 will describe its identical arcuate path 44 but in the opposite direction. When the centerline of spring 38 passes across the axis of pin 23, the hood may be released and will drop by gravity, aided by spring 38, into its final closed position, where it will be latched by any conventional means.

It will be seen, therefore, that a hood hinge has been described which automatically imparts the desired combined lifting and rotary movements to the hood, and Which functions by means of an extremely inexpensive, simple and easily fabricated combination of parts. The cable or strap 16, which can be constructed at very low cost, cooperates with the disk-shaped members 17 and 18 and with the link 15 to produce a plane-motion linkage combining translatoryand rotational movements. There is no necessity for separately constructed and pivoted links at the location of the upper portion 45 and lower portion 46 of the strap, only two pivoted points, 22 and 23, being necessary in this construction. The device is also provided with an overcenter means which functions to impart a lifting action to the hood in the last part of its upward motion, and a stop is provided for automatically holding the hood in its raised position.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the invention herein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hinge for movably supporting a closure member with respect to a body member, a link adapted to be pivotally connected to both of said members, an arcuate guide, securing means connected to said arcuate guide for fixedly attaching said guide to one of said members, a second arcuate guide, securing means connected to said second arcuate guide for fixedly attaching said second guide to the other of said members, said guides each being concentric with a pivot axis of said link, a flexlble member having portions extending between said arcuate 4 guides and portions on said guides joining the ends of said first-mentioned portions to form a closed loop, and means for securing said flexible member to said guides whereby movement of said closure member with respect to said body member will cause rolling movement of said guides with respect to said flexible member.

2. A hinge for supporting a closure member upon a body member, comprising an elongated link adapted to be pivotally secured to said closure member and said body member, an arcuate guide, securing means connected to said arcuate guide for fixedly attaching said guide to said closure member, a second arcuate guide, securing means connected to said second arcuate guide for fixedly attaching said second guide to said body member, the axes of said guides coinciding with the pivotal axes of said link, and a flexible member having portions extending between said arcuate guides and portions on said guides joining the ends of said first-mentioned portions to form a closed loop, the guides being movable along said flexible member when said closure member is moved, whereby combined rotational and translatory movements are imparted to said closure member.

3. The combination according to claim 2, further provided with over-center means for urging said hinge into either its open or closed positions, said over-center means comprising a resilient member having opposite ends connected between said arcuate guides and exerting a constant tension force therebetween, and securing means for the oppoiste ends of said resilient member, said securing means being so disposed relative to said arcuate guides that the line joining said securing means is disposed to one side of the axis of one of said arcuate guides when the hinge is in its closed position, and is disposed on the opposite side of said axis when the hinge is in its open position.

4. A hinge for movably supporting a closure member upon a body member, comprising a supporting bracket adapted to be secured to said closure member, a second supporting bracket adapted to be secured to said body member, an arcuate guide on each of said brackets and extending laterally therefrom, an elongated link pivotally connected between said brackets, and a flexible member overlying said arcuate guides and forming a closed loop, the flexible member being secured to each of said guides, whereby combined rotational and translatory movements are imparted to said closure member when the latter is moved relative to said body member.

5. A hinge for movably supporting a closure member upon a body member, comprising a supporting bracket adapted to be secured to said closure member, a second supporting bracket adapted to be secured to said body member, an arcuate guide on each of said brackets and extending laterally therefrom, an elongated link pivotally connected between said brackets, the pivotal axes of said link coinciding with the axes of said arcuate guides, and a flexible member overlying said arcuate guides and forming a closed loop, the portions of said flexible member between said overlying portions being substantially taut, the portions of said flexible member overlying said guides being secured to said guides, whereby movement of said closure member relative to said body member will cause rolling movement of said guides within said flexible member.

6. A hinge for supporting a closure member relative to a body member, comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to said closure member and having a guide extending laterally therefrom, said guide having an arcuate guiding surface, a second bracket adapted to be secured to said body member, an arcuate guide extending laterally from said body bracket, an elongated link pivotally connected between said brackets, an endless strap overlying said arcuate guides and forming a closed loop, the portions of said strap between said guides being substantially taut, whereby movement of said closure member relative to said body member will cause combined rotational and translatory movement of said closure member, a stop extending laterally from one of said brackets, and an extension on said link, said extension being movable into abutting relation with said stop when the closure member is moved toward its open position, whereby the amount of such opening movement is predetermined.

7. In a hinge for supporting aclosure member with respect to the body member, a guide of circular shape adapted to be secured to said closure member, a second guide of circular shape adapted to be secured to said body member, an elongated link pivotally connecting said guides, the pivotal axes of said link coinciding with the axes of said guides, an endless flexible member looped around said guides, the portions of said flexible member between said guides being substantially taut, a fastener securing said flexible member to each of said guides at a point thereon, whereby movement of said closure member with the respect to said body member will cause said guides to roll within said flexible member, over-center means connected between said guides and adapted to urge said hinge into either its closed or open position, and a stop for limiting the opening movement of said hinge.

8. A hinge for supporting a closure member upon a body member, comprising an elongated link adapted to be pivotally secured to said closure member and said body member, an arcuate guide adapted to be fixedly secured to said closure member, a second arcuate guide adapted to be fixedly secured to said body member, said guides having different radii of curvature, the axes of said guides coinciding with the pivotal axes of said link, and a flexible member overlying said guides and forming a closed loop, the guides being movable along said flexible member when said closure member is moved, whereby combined rotational and translatory movements are imparted to said closure member.

9. A hinge for movably supporting a closure member upon a body member, comprising a supporting bracket adapted to be fixedly secured to said closure member, a second supporting bracket adapted to be fixedly secured to said body member, an arcuate guide on each of said brackets and extending laterally therefrom, the guide associated with said closure member having a smaller radius of curvature than said other guide, an elongated link pivotally connected between said brackets, and a flexible member overlying said arcuate guides and forming a closed loop, the flexible member being secured to each of said guides, whereby combined rotational and translatory movements are imparted to said closure member when the latter is moved relative to said body member.

10. A hinge for supporting a closure member relative to a body member, comprising a bracket adapted to be fixedly secured to said closure member and having a guide extending laterally therefrom, said guide having an arcuate guiding surface, a second bracket adapted to be fixedly secured to said body member, an arcuate guide extending laterally from said body bracket, said last mentioned arcuate guide having a larger radius of curvature than said first mentioned guide, an elongated link pivotally connected between said brackets, an endless strap overlying said arcuate guides and forming a closed loop, the portions of said strap between said guides being substantially taut, whereby movement of said closure member relative to said body member will cause combined rotational and translatory movement of said closure member, a stop extending laterally from one of said brackets, and an extension on said link, said extension being movable into abutting relation with said stop when the closure member is moved toward its open position, whereby the amount of such opening movement is predetermined.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,978,417 Dreisonstok et al Oct. 30, 1934 2,185,214 Claud-Mantle Jan. 2, 1940 2,258,065 De Orlow Oct. 7, 1941 2,271,422 Gould Jan. 27, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS 248,482 Italy May 26, 1926 514,040 France Nov. 8, 1920 

